Le Pen invite sparks protest

The French right-wing extremist Jean-Marie Le Pen is to address the Cambridge Union society tonight in a move that has attracted widespread criticism.

Mr Le Pen, who has been fined for anti-semitism and has described the Holocaust as "a mere detail" in history, polled 5 million votes in last year's presidential elections in France. The 74-year-old has stated that "races are not equal", and has been convicted of incitement to racial hatred.

Cambridge University student union (CUSU) anti-racism officer Kimberley Chong called the invite "a completely insensitive move" that was "ignorant of the growth of the far-right in Britain and Europe and the risk they pose to ethnic minorities".

Last year, the CUSU passed a "no platform" policy, which mandates the union to campaign against any organisation that provides speaking opportunities to "individuals deemed to pose a threat to the welfare or security of [its] members."

CUSU president Paul Lewis said: "We're very concerned and are liasing with the police and university authorities because we're genuinely worried about the safety of our students."

The university's Jewish Society said Mr Le Pen's invite was "offensive to all minority students in Cambridge and a danger to student security".

Anti-Nazi League member Dan Mayer called the invite "absolutely disgusting". ANL protesters from around the country are to gather outside the union building before the debate. Paul Holborow, founder of the ANL was due to take part in the event, but after the announcement of Mr Le Pen's involvement he is now expected to participate in the demonstrations instead. Alice Nutter, from the band Chumbawumba, has also pulled out of tonight's event, although she is due to take part in another union debate later in the year.

The threat of violence between the ANL and the British National Party lay behind the cancellation of a debate involving Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP, and the Muslim extremist Abu Hamza, organised by the Cambridge Forum, an offshoot of the debating union, in December.

Mr Lewis said: I don't know what game the debating society is playing. They have invited far right speaker after far right speaker. This is not what Cambridge students want. It's the lowest of the low."

However, the union's president, Edward Cumming, who claims to have received two death threats since the debate was announced, defended Mr Le Pen's invitation on the grounds of preserving freedom of speech. "I've got no truck personally with Holocaust denial," he stated, "but the way to discredit these opinions is to engage with them in an intellectual discussion.

"As with all these things, some people won't like it, but others will appreciate the opportunity to challenge his views in an open forum. We've not advertised it around town, and I don't see how he's a direct threat to Cambridge students."

Mr Le Pen, leader of the National Front in France for 30 years, is due to speak for 20 minutes and take questions for 40 minutes, but he is not expected to take part in the main debate on freedom of speech because of his limited English.

Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens and students will debate the question "This house would gag the bad".